OBU maintain winning ways as Petone’s and HOBM’s struggles continue

Old Boys University have maintained their unbeaten start to 2016, beating the Wellington Axemen 32-6 in their top-of-the-table Wellington club rugby Derby Day clash at Westpac Stadium this evening.

The Goats won a hard battle in deteriorating conditions five tries to one, after leading 8-6 at the halftime interval. In pouring rain, they pulled further ahead to take their 15th straight win in Premier rugby.

No. 8 Teariki Ben Nicholas scored four second half tries for the Goats.

In contrast, the fortunes of defending first round champions Hutt Old Boys Marist and Petone continue to wane after both slumped to their fifth defeats today.

HOBM missed out to Marist St Pat’s 27-14 at Evans Bay Park and Petone were pipped 33-27 by Wainuiomata in a heartbreaker at the Petone Rec. Both HOBM and Petone are heading for the Hardham Cup later this season unless they can quickly turn their fortunes around.

Elsewhere, there were key wins today in stroppy overhead conditions for Northern United, the Upper Hutt Rams, Oriental-Rongotai and Tawa.

At Porirua Park, Northern United beat minnows Paremata-Plimmerton 53-16, at Lyndhurst Park Tawa beat strugglers Johnsonvillle 80-10, at the Polo Ground, Ories pipped Poneke 20-19 and at Fraser Park the Upper Hutt Rams overran Avalon 34-23.

It was heartbreak for Petone fans at home at the Petone Rec, with Wainuiomata clinching a 33-27 Darren Larsen Cup victory late in the piece with a pair of tries to backs, Michael Lealava’a, off a scrum base, and veteran Marvin Karawana.

Petone fans perhaps thought they had done enough for victory, when first five-eighth Piri Paraone rocked in to score a try and then returning Samoan sevens fullback Belgium Tuatagaloa crossed soon after to put them ahead 27-21.

Earlier, Wainuiomata had led 21-10 at halftime playing with a stiff wind, but Petone closed the gap after the break when left wing Willie Fine scored the second his intercept try of the fixture.

The Upper Hutt Rams stormed back over the final few minutes to take what could be a hugely important 34-23 victory for them over Avalon for the Harper Vine Trophy.

The Rams were down 15-23, but flashed in for three consecutive bonus point tries in the dying minutes to earn their second win of the season. Replacement hooker Josh Houston-Tupou bagged a brace, while fanker Mithcell Markov and pops Apa Heemi and Gabe Vuki also scored tries for the Rams.

At the Polo Ground, Ories earned their fifth of the season with a one-point victory over Poneke for the Jimmy Grbich Shield, winning this interclub trophy for the sixth consecutive year.

Just as Ories looked like they were going to run away with an easy win after two second half tries, a penalty goal and a yellow card to Poneke flanker Joseph Scheres, along with a strong wind at their backs, the visitors controlled the remainder of the game and came to within one point courtesy of a Greg Foe try.

However, a Poneke comeback just wasn't to be as the Ories defence held strong, refusing Poneke a game-winning score in the game's dying moments to secure the 20-19 victory.

Earlier in the game, Ories neutralised Poneke's first-half wind advantage through set piece dominance, as the hosts caused major trouble for Poneke at every scrum and lineout.

Though, despite this upper-hand, Poneke were the first to score after wing Nick Robertson pinched an Ories pass to run in the first try of the game, before Ories fullback Ambrose Curtis replied shortly after, using Ories' scrum to go over the chalk untouched. 

Poneke fullback Pakai Turia then sent Nick Robertson in for his second try of the day after Turia made a break from inside his own half, giving Poneke a 12-5 buffer.

Ories would soon tie the game and then take the lead through tries to replacement forwards Kane Le'aupepe and Ken Aperila, before a penalty goal through the boot of James Proctor provided the crucial eight-point gap which saw Ories win the game.

At Porirua Park Northern United retained the Bill Brien Challenge Shield and the Ivan Hargreaves Trophy with a 53-15 victory over Pareamata-Plimmerton.

Paremata-Plimmerton’s forwards pressed hard all match against their Norths counterparts, but several big individual plays by Norths players proved key plays.

One such try was loosehead prop Kenta Tsujii’s first try of the match, the Japanese player bursting forth from 25 metres out and dotting down. Norths scored their second try soon after to Cameron Craig after a big break by Muna Lafaele, putting them ahead 15-0 early. Norths scored twice before the break and led 25-6 at the turn .

Playing into the wind in the second half, Norths pulled ahead further, in a contest that saw four yellow cards doled out by referee Fairmaid.

MSP earned an efficient 27-14 victory over the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles for the Father Cleary Shield, MSP scored two tries in each half of play, leading 13-0 at halftime, scoring their third try on the 60 minute mark and their fourth soon after.

HOBM, who had their moments in the first half but couldn’t capitalise, They finally came back with two consolation tries at the end to close up the margin, with right wing Blake McGregor and hooker James O’Reilly crossing.

As expected, Tawa had a comfortable victory on their Old Timers’ Day over Johnsonville, winning 80-10 at leafy Lyndhurst Park. Openside flanker Tavita Lagovae scored twice early, while hooker Lotu Nuku had a storming game and was rewarded with their third try. Long-serving wing Junior Togia crossed for their bonus point try just before halftime.

Tawa steamed ahead after the interval, a feature being the introduction off the bench of Wellington Lion and former Sean Treeby, who scored a try in his comeback match.

Bay of Plenty bound Teariki Ben-Nicholas became the first forward since North’s Dean Brunsdon in 2013 to score four or more tries in a Swindale Shield match in OBU’s win over the Axemen. Each of his four tries was scored cradling the ball over the goal-line bound to an imperious scrum.

OBU made better use of the swirling breeze to cage Wellington in their half. Defensive urgency hassled the Axmen into mistakes allowing the Billygoats scrum to go to work. It was only 8-6 at halftime, but OBU’s straggling tactics eventually paid dividends.

The OBU scrum was outstanding and the source of Ben-Nicholas’s fruit. The big No.8 was an imposing presence elsewhere as well. Tomasi Palu‘s ability to switch between 9/10 allows OBU a flexibility on attack other teams don’t enjoy. Augustine Escalona is one of the hardest working locks in the competition. Simon Shearer toiled gamely for Wellington and reserve halfback Carne Green was sprightly in his brief appearance.

Marist St Pat’s and Poneke continue to set a hot pace in the Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield. Both sides are unbeaten after six rounds, after wins today. MSP pulled clear of Hutt Old Boys Marist to win 46-24, whilst Poneke defeated Ories 31-7 in the Jimmy Grbich Shield curtain-raiser at the Polo Ground.

In other Premier Reserve fixtures, Norths and OBU maintained third equal after Norths beat Paremata-Plimmerton 58-0 and OBU overcame the Wellington Axemen 15-0. The closest result of the day was Petone’s 21-19 win over Wainuiomata.

In Women’s rugby, Northern United celebrated first five-eighth Dawn Patelesio’s 300th club game with a 146-0 win over the Upper Hutt Rams, while Avalon romped to a 109 victory over Johnsonville-Tawa.

Wainuiomata eased to an 81-0 win over Poneke, while, in a much closer match, the OBU Impalas defeated Hutt Old Boys Marist 22-5, after leading 15-0 at halftime.

Ories won their match over MSP by default, placing them and Norths atop the standings on maximum points. Wainuiomata and Ories are just back with three wins from four each.

There was plenty of drama in the third round of the Paris Memorial Trophy Division 1 Colts grade, with Marist St Pat’s making it three from three after a tense 15-12 win over defending champions HOBM Green.

MSP had first use of a strong Evans Bay Park, but struggled to make it pay. An intercept try to their openside flanker proved the difference and ultimately the difference in the match as HOBM stormed back in the second spell but failed to overtake them.

Old Boys University Green have joined MSP at the top of the Colts standings after defeating Norths Blue 26-0 on Friday night, while Poneke’s Colts sustained their first loss of the 2016 season going down to Ories 21-18 at the Polo Ground, in Ories’ first win of the year.

In other Colts Division 1 matches, Petone bounced back from their defeat last week to Poneke with a  35-15 victory over the Wellington Junior Axemen and Tawa moved up to third with a 33-7 win over last year’s semi-finalists the Upper Hutt Rams  

Defending champions the Tawa Titans went down 15-18 to the OBU Bunnies 15-18 in their JC Bowl U85kg clash today.

The Wellington Axemen have taken the lead in the standings after Tawa’s loss and their 16-11 win over the Avalon Wolves. Stokes Valley pipped Eastbourne 13-11 in a customary close contest and Johnsonville swooped to a 50-10 win over HOBM.  

Old Boys University are unbeaten after a month of Saturday’s in the Thompson Memorial First Grade competition. OBU beat Poneke 35-8 today to register their fourth straight win.

There were also First Grade victories for Norths over MSP, Avalon over the Petone Saxons and the Petone Brotherhood over Tawa.

In a First XV fixture this afternoon, Wellington champions St Pat’s Town defeated Christchurch rivals St Bede’s 28-15 to win the Holley Shield for the first time in 75 years.

SPC led this contest 8-6 at halftime before sailing home in the second spell. Tries were scored by Keelan Whitman, Zac Aldridge, Nuri Kaya and Adam McLean.